Maple Syrup… Sweet Liquid Gold

A sweet gluten-free breakfast is a stack of pancakes, made by Glutino or King Arthur Flour, piled high and drizzled with tons of maple syrup.

I know that a lot of love goes into the manufacturing of any gluten-free pancake mix, but I was astonished at the amount of commitment it takes to make maple syrup.

Known in New England as “liquid gold”, early spring is the time for “sugaring” or the production of maple syrup. And for those that haven’t seen the sugaring procedure in action and have the opportunity to visit a sugarmaker you should definitely go… it is fun and informative family activity.

Following are a some fun maple syrup facts to ponder over while enjoy a tall stack of gluten-free pancakes:

- Sugarmakers like warm days and cold nights, which is best for sap flow.

- It takes 30 to 50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

- A maple tree is usually about 12” in diameter, or 30-40 years old before it is tapped for sap.

- To make maple syrup the only thing removed from the sap is water, and there is nothing at all added.

- Maple syrup has the same calcium content as whole milk.

- Maple syrup is 100% organic.

- Maple syrup is three times as sweet as cane sugar… with fewer calories! (Maple syrup has only 40 calories per tablespoon.)

Some ideas to enjoy maple syrup include poured over pancakes and waffles, drizzled over oatmeal and ice cream, dribbled over clean snow to make the childhood classic “sugar on snow”, used as a glaze and sweetener on baked baby carrots, squash and sweet potatoes, added to baked beans to add syrupy flavor and as a sweetener in baking.

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